March 5, 2002 Election Result: Prop E Property Tax Hike Passes Other area news: Havice loses Congressional primary bid to Loretta Sanchez's sister (March 6, 2002) -- A near 2/3 vote with an extremely low voter turnout of barely 20% produced passage of Prop E, a LB area property tax increase for new construction at LBCC. Late results from the L.A. County Registrar of Voters office can be viewed by clicking here. The measure took an early lead of roughly 62% in absentee ballots and widened its lead as results from neighborhood polling places came in. The tax hike was backed by four of the five incumbent LB Community College Board of Trustees and was opposed by Trustee Darwin Thorpe. In April, Mr. Thorpe will face a re-election challenge from former LB Councilman Jeff Kellogg who favored the property tax hike. LBCC officialdom and its supporters took advantage of a change to Howard Jarvis' Prop 13 property tax limitation measure, amended by passage of Prop 39 which reduced Prop 13's 2/3 vote requirement to 55% for school related measures. Supporters of the property tax increase included Mayor Beverly O'Neill, City Council incumbents Ray Grabinski, Bonnie Lowenthal, Frank Colonna, Laura Richardson-Batts, Rob Webb and Jerry Shultz, State Senator Betty Karnette. Assemblymembers Alan Lowenthal and Jenny Oropeza and L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe. In other area political news, Cal Heights/Bixby Knolls/NLB area Assemblywoman Sally Havice lost her Democrat primary bid for a seat in Congress, finishing third to Linda Sanchez, the sister of Orange County Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. |